Florida Volleyball Notebook: August 9
Monday, August 10, 2009 | Volleyball
AUDIO: Coach Wise discusses the tradition of the team dinner (.MP3) The 18-time defending Southeastern Conference Champion Florida volleyball team will begin its 2009 fall camp on Monday at the L. Gale Lemerand Center.
The Gators will have a single practice on Monday, while participating in other administrative events, such as receiving their new gear and taking the team photo. Two-a-day practices will commence on Tuesday, as most days until the start of school will feature a morning session and an afternoon session.
All players reported to campus this weekend to prepare for the upcoming season and enjoyed their annual team dinner at the home of head coach Mary Wise with coaches, support staff and parents also in attendance.
"This is, by far, my favorite part of the season," Wise said. "We have two weeks with the players and we have their undivided attention. This is the most conditioned team we've had because we had 14 of the players here this summer training under [strength and conditioning coach] Matt DeLancey. We're older than we were a year ago and, because of that, I feel like we'll be able to start much further down the road than we did last year."
Florida returns five starters from a year ago, including AVCA National Freshman of the Year Kelly Murphy (Wilmington, Ill.) and two-time AVCA honorable mention All-America libero Elyse Cusack (Melrose, Fla.). The Gators will be seeking their 19th consecutive Southeastern Conference Championship and their 19th consecutive NCAA Tournament appearance. Florida has advanced to the NCAA Round of 16 in 17 of the last 18 years.
The Gators begin their 2009 season by hosting the Campus USA Credit Union Invitational Aug. 28-29 in the Stephen C. O'Connell Center. Florida's first match takes place at 7 p.m. Aug. 28 vs. UNLV.
The University of Florida is home to the 2009 NCAA Volleyball Regional. To order 2009 regular season and NCAA Regional tickets, log on to www.GatorZone.com/tickets. Follow Florida Volleyball on Twitter at www.twitter.com/GatorZoneVB and Coach Mary Wise on Twitter at www.twitter.com/GatorMary.
REMINDER: FAN DAY – AUGUST 23
Florida volleyball will host its annual Fan Day and Orange & Blue Scrimmage on Sunday, Aug. 23 in the Stephen C. O'Connell Center. Gates open at 12:30 p.m. and autographs with players and student-athletes begin at 1 p.m. The intra-squad scrimmage will take place at approximately 2 p.m.
